Statement by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla at the Security Council open debate on “Upholding the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations and Strengthening the UN-Centered International System,” New York, May 26, 2026.
Mr. President, Distinguished Permanent Representatives:
We highly value the leadership of the People’s Republic of China in upholding international peace and security, upholding international law, preserving, strengthening, and appropriately reforming the United Nations, particularly the democratization, transparency, and effectiveness of the Security Council and the empowerment of the General Assembly, and in building a multilateral international order based on sovereign equality, justice, and democracy.
Proof of this lies in the global initiatives promoted by President Xi Jinping, which we support, to address current challenges through genuine multilateral cooperation. The convening of this open debate further demonstrates this commitment.
On September 26, 1960, at the UN General Assembly, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz declared: "Let the philosophy of plunder disappear, and the philosophy of war will have disappeared!" We vividly remember him in this centennial year.
Mr. President:
How can one speak of defending the central role of the United Nations, promoting peace and development, and safeguarding the international order based on international law and the fundamental norms of international relations, in order to prevent new conflicts where the strong prevail over the weak, without mentioning the genocide against Palestine, the imperialist aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the war in the Middle East?
The United States government, in effect, is in a position of undermining international peace and security and violating international law and international humanitarian law with respect to the Republic of Cuba.
The indictment of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, is a morally infamous and legally arbitrary act. It constitutes an abuse of the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts, a manipulation of the site where the planes were shot down in Cuban airspace and territorial waters, a violation of U.S. law by terrorists and illegal missions frequently carried out by these planes, and a disregard for the right of states to self-defense.
It is a politically motivated, fraudulent decision aimed at deceiving U.S. citizens and foreigners, 30 years after the events, with the vile purpose of gaining their support for a military adventure against Cuba to achieve “regime change” or “nation-building,” as it is now euphemistically called.
It is a politically motivated and fraudulent decision designed to deceive U.S. citizens and foreigners, 30 years after the events, with the vile purpose of gaining their support for a military adventure against Cuba to achieve “regime change” or “nation-building,” as it is now euphemistically called. The oil and energy embargo that the United States imposes on Cuba is equivalent, in its effects, to a naval blockade, which is an act of war and genocide that subjects the Cuban population to conditions that threaten their integrity and existence. It constitutes a cruel and indiscriminate “collective punishment” that is currently causing deaths, as reflected in the doubling of the infant mortality rate, from 4.0 to 9.2 per thousand live births, and the reduction in the life expectancy of children with cancer from 85% to 65%.
A military aggression would provoke a bloodbath. Thousands of Cubans would die defending their homeland and sacred values and principles, and young Americans would perish, without a cause or ideal to defend, dragged into violence by an imperialist, neo-fascist policy of domination, plunder, and conquest.
I address myself, in particular, to the citizens of the United States, especially its youth, and I appeal to their human values, their pacifist and noble sentiments, and I ask them to seek the truth and not allow themselves to be deceived or manipulated by an elitist, corrupt, and powerful clique in Miami, which is not representative of the American people or of the Cubans residing in this country, who overwhelmingly oppose the barbarity of the war and the energy blockade.
The President who gave that order for a military attack, and the Secretary of State and Secretary of War who instigated it, would go down in history as war criminals, direct perpetrators of crimes against humanity. No justification can be offered for aggression or for inhumane, coercive acts like that one, given their humanitarian impact. Let Cuba live in peace!
For more than six decades, the U.S. government has fabricated pretexts to try to justify its criminal conduct.
It has used the absurd argument of presenting the small but symbolic island as a supposed threat to the national security of the nuclear superpower, an idea that defies the Logic and common sense, besides relying on completely mendacious assertions and insinuations.
As President Miguel Díaz-Canel has reiterated, Cuba is not and cannot be a threat. It is not an enemy of the United States, nor does it wish to be, despite significant differences with its government. Cuba has deep and fraternal ties with the American people and culture. We will continue to warmly and hospitably welcome American travelers, even though their government restricts their freedoms; and we will welcome American businesspeople and companies with competitive projects to participate, without any discrimination, in our economic development, even though the blockade hinders it.
However, now a corrupt and immoral plutocracy is brandishing the myth of our government's incompetence and supposed corruption, and the alleged danger of a "humanitarian crisis," as justification for foreign intervention. This is cynically stated by the very executioner who, in a cold, malevolent, and deliberate manner, provokes devastating effects with his actions, the same effects they would have on any country in the world, regardless of its economic potential, level of development, or the nature of its political system.
Despite the lack of progress and goodwill, the lack of seriousness and consistency on the part of the United States, we remain willing to continue talks; to address bilateral issues, without interference in our internal affairs, our political system, or our elections; and to seek civilized conduct and multifaceted cooperation, particularly regarding terrorism, drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, regular and safe migration, human trafficking, mutual economic compensation, and other matters.
This is an unprecedented and completely unjustified unilateral aggression. Through intimidation and “secondary” sanctions, applicable to third parties, the United States government intends to force all states to participate, against their will, in its atrocious policies against Cuba, which will not happen.
I call on the international community to mobilize to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe that could be imposed, whether through armed conflict or through energy blockades and the extreme tightening of the blockade, which also kill and cause suffering.
I call on Latin America and the Caribbean to act to preserve their status as a Zone of Peace and avoid adverse consequences that would destabilize the region.
It is time for a broad international effort, transcending political differences, ideological approaches, and historical disputes, to set limits and prevent the excesses that threaten and harm national interests, peoples, and the sovereign prerogatives of all states.
The Global South should fight for this and collectively protect itself from any reprisals, through collective voice and action and mutual cooperation. I humbly ask: the time has come for solidarity with Cuba, which has always been solidarity with everyone, never hesitating in the face of risks, sometimes deadly; nor in the face of interests or material scarcity.
I cannot find a way to address the defense of the central role of the United Nations and the promotion of peace and development, and the Security Council's primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security and contributing to dialogue and the promotion of political solutions, without realistically urging this Security Council to at least attempt to fulfill its primary and supreme mandate regarding the military threat and the energy blockade against Cuba. Nor can I refrain from encouraging the United Nations General Assembly to decisively use its broad and decisive powers, its moral, legal, and democratic authority conferred upon it by the people, in the situation of Cuba.
Let no one doubt that, should a moment arrive—one we hope will never come—the people of Cuba will fight to the bitter end.
Homeland or death, we will prevail!
Thank you very much.
(Cubaminrex)